Light & Motion
Vis 360 Plus Light

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Light & Motion
Vis 360 Plus Light $179.99

Item # LTM0087

Description

You know the drill -- before leaving your apartment ever morning, you dress, pack your tools and a spare change of clothes, don gloves and helmet, and duck out the front door, bike under arm. It's only until you're beyond the point of turning around when you realize you've forgotten your rear light. Or your front light. Or worse still, both. The intelligent Light & Motion Vis 360 Plus Light system makes it significantly more difficult to forget your lights, while offering a bit of extra power (hence the "Plus" delineation) over the standard Vis 360.

Before the Vis systems, smart bike commuters have used separate headlights and taillights. While this is a satisfactory setup, it doesn't necessarily make you visible from the side. Accident data tells us that most accidents involving vehicles and bicycles occur at intersections, not surprisingly, with cars turning into or across cyclist's paths as they thread their way through the intersection. Light and Motion made the Vis 360 system a better, safer option by incorporating both front and rear light together, using the same battery pack so you'll always know that you'll have ample juice for both lights. But what really makes it special is the inclusion of amber side lights. These side markers create a 360° field of visible light.

The system is designed to be mounted on the helmet, as accident data also shows that cyclists are more visible to cars when the headlight is mounted on the helmet. From our experience, this is also preferable for performance reasons -- your light will point directly where you look.

Like the rest of the full Light & Motion line, the Vis 360 Plus Light is made in Monterey, California. The entire system mounts intuitively to any helmet with the lamp on front and taillight on back. It casts a bright, white 250 lumens beam of light which runs on the high setting for 3 hours. The medium setting will get you twice that, and it will pulse on the flash setting for a full 16 hours. The rechargeable Li-ion battery has a micro USB port and can be charged on your computer or by most cell phone chargers. From a complete drain, you can expect the light to fully charge in around 6 hours.

Light Mounted on Giro Helmet

Comment on Ryan Conklin's video:

Watches Ur Back as U Pedal Into the Nite

Gender:
Male

Familiarity:
I've used it several times

I found this light while searching for a "good headlamp for cycling," and I was impressed with the integration of the helmet-mounted headlamp and the rear red light. Although the price is a bit intimidating, you're getting two devices in one: a headlamp AND a rear safety light.

Installation: It took me 10min to get the light mounted on my Giro helmet since I was unfamiliar with the setup. Note: Light & Motion's website has additional installation pictures for clarification if you find yourself scratchin' the ol' noggin.

Impressions so far: I love that the light has a tilt adjustment, so you can dial it to point pretty much exactly where you want it to shine, and because it's on your helmet--rather than your handlebars--your light shines where you look, which means 360 degree visibility since handlebars are limited to pointing just in front of you.

I find the beam strength of the 360 PLUS is great for dark country roads, and even in neighborhoods here in NM where streetlights are not as common. The less bright of the two options (first option on the regular 360 model) is sufficient for most of my neighborhood rides when it's not pitch black out. I haven't used the strobe setting yet, but I'm glad that toggling between the lights doesn't include an option that turns the light off as is standard with most headlamps (you have to hold the button down to power it off). Also, I really like that the red light on the back can be turned off while leaving the front light on--helpful for not distracting riders behind me while off-roading.

What it's missing: One ding is that you can't really wear this light without a helmet, which is a bummer because I would love to take this thing hiking/running since it's so bright. Another improvement would be to add a toggle option so that the red light could be set to strobe for added protection, but the constant red light is still a BIG win for safety.

Overall, I'm really happy with the twin value of this light: It lights my way and watches my back. Ride on!

I agree with your point on a strobe mode for the back light. The first model, Vis360, strobes the back light and has no other option--if the front light is on, the back light must strobe. On the 360 plus, the back light can turned off, but when on it slowly pulses between two levels of brightness. My wife has observed both models from behind and feels strongly that the strobing of the 360 is more attention grabbing that the pulsing of the 360 plus even though the plus has a higher output.

I'm not sure why Light and Motion changed their design for the back light from strobe to slow pulse. Given that they have an on/off switch that controls the back light, they could have included a strobe option for those who think strobing is more attention grabbing and therefor safer.

The way it is now, you have a choice between higher output and longer battery life in the plus and lower output but strobing back light at lower cost in the original 360. I really like both products, but Ryan makes a good point on the loss of back strobing.

Comment on Ryan Conklin's review:

Startlingly bright. See and be seen.

Familiarity:
I've used it several times

I have heavily used the original light, Vis 360, for cycling and inline skating over the past two years and am impressed by its visibility, durability, practicality, battery life. When my wife needed better lighting to skate at dusk, I had to get her this one to try out. The big deal with this model is double the lumen output at improved battery discharge capacities in all modes. If you don't need the extra brightness, the original model is a great value.

Having a helmet mount with integrated tail light is great: 1) it shines where you are looking, 2) it works for several bikes and activities without mounting to equipment, 3) it is easily swappable onto another helmet, 4) no need to worry about charging front and rear.

USB charging is flawless. An indicator LED makes it easy to tell how much charge remains. This light is so bright (double the lumens of the original) that I would use it mostly in medium or flash mode. At max, it can be disorienting. Getting twice as many lumens in flash mode does get more driver and other rider attention on the road. The tail light has also been enhanced to stay on while pulsing rather than cycle on and off. Higher output means the side lights are much more visible too.

I don't know yet how well it will work in non flash modes. I'm highly impressed with the Vis360 product pair and the original has proven worthy over several thousand miles. I'd suggest this model if you need to light the path you ride or if you ride in a bright environment (even daylight) and want to improve the odds that you are seen.

It mounted easily to several different helmets as promised and can be easily mounted and unmounted. It is light enough that I don't notice it much (unlike a camera). I highly recommend this light for urban road and park use both for cycling and skating. I'd like it even more at a lower price, but it's well engineered and manufactured--here in the USA.